Confident he could battle for a fifth podium of 2013 after securing pole position for the second time in his MotoGP career, Crutchlow was locked in an exciting battle with Valentino Rossi and Alvaro Bautista in the early laps.

However, the 27-year-old tumbled out of fourth position on lap eight. The Briton rejoined the 22-lap race fighting through from the back of the field to take 17th at the chequered flag.

Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa, winner in dramatic fashion last year, topped the Warm-Up with his best lap time of 1’56.515, which was just three thousandths of a second faster than championship-leading teammate Marc Marquez. The top five was rounded out by Yamaha Factory Racing duo Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, plus pole-sitter Cal Crutchlow of Monster Yamaha Tech3.

The talk of the morning was the ever-increasing chance that rain will affect this afternoon’s 22-lap race. Dark skies surrounded the circuit, encouraging riders to practice bike changes in the pit lane in case they are faced with a Flag-to-Flag situation during the Grand Prix; incidentally, the likes of Crutchlow and Marquez are yet to experience such a scenario since making their MotoGP™ debuts.